Court: Inmate Can’t Change Court-Appointed Lawyer

The Supreme Court says a California death row inmate can't change his court-appointed appeals lawyer because he didn't like the lawyer's defense tactics. The justices on Monday turned away the appeal from Kenneth Clair, who was sentenced to death in 1987 for burglary and murder. Clair wanted to change his federal public defender in 2005 because he says they were trying to stop his execution instead of trying to prove his innocence. TriCities. com has the Associated Press story.